You are on page 1of 46

Beer Industry Insights

July 2014

Contact contact@brandwatch.com | Tel: +1 212 299 2240

Contents
Overview

Overview

Volume Analysis

Share of Voice

Buzz Trends

Origin of Buzz

Brand Content Analysis

Domain Specific Analysis


Twitter Themes

27

BeerAdvocate

31

BeerAdvocate Themes

32

Advocacy Analysis

37

Social Media Overall Brand Advocacy

38

BeerAdvocate Brand Advocacy

39

RateBeer Brand Advocacy

40

10

Blue Moon

11

Guinness

14

Heineken

17

Lagunitas

20

Samuel Adams

23

Beer Forums Summary

41

Appendixes'

42

Data Collection

43

Advocacy Trends

45

Brand Categorization

46

Contact
2014 Brandwatch.com

26

47
2

Overview

2014 Brandwatch.com

Overview

The objective of this research is to understand the beer industry's social media
landscape.

This report analyzes Samuel Adams, Lagunitas, Blue Moon, Heineken and
Guinness, providing examples of both craft and mainstream brands to provide a
representative picture of the beer industry at large.

The timeframe of analysis was from July 1st 2013 to March 31st, 2014

It aims to provide a foundation from which beer brands can establish a strong
social listening framework.

Insights derived from this framework can be used to:


- Measure the success of marketing efforts
- Formulate strategies for advocacy marketing
- Evaluate the competitive landscape
- Monitor overall brand health
- Build and strengthen relationships with advocates and influencers

2014 Brandwatch.com

Volume Analysis

2014 Brandwatch.com

Share of Voice

Brand Presence as measured by Volume of Mentions


8% BLUE MOON

15% SAMUEL ADAMS

Blue Moon had 70,590 mentions

With 141,093 mentions, Samuel Adams led


the share of voice out of the craft beers in the
five key brands

5% LAGUNITAS
Lagunitas had the smallest
share of voice with 46,240
mentions

914K
MENTIONS

30% GUINNESS
Guinness was the second in share of
voice with 268,771 mentions

42% HEINEKEN
Even after removing sports sponsorship
and music sponsorship mentions,
Heineken still had the most number of
mentions out of the five key brands with
387,016 mentions

Breakdown of Five Key Beer Brands on US Social Media by Volume of Mentions


Note on Data Heineken and Guinness volume excluded sponsorship mentions (See Appendix I)
Import vs. Craft There were more mentions from the two Import beer brands (Heineken & Guinness, 72%) than
three domestic craft brands (Samuel Adams, Blue Moon, and Lagunitas, 28%)
2014 Brandwatch.com

Sentiment

Sentiment Breakdown per Brand


POSITIVE

NEGATIVE

17706

2657

Lagunitas

3297

564

Heineken

33235

13894

Guinness

33666

6313

6369

1955

Sam Adams

Blue Moon
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Out of five key brands, Samuel Adams and Guinness received the most positive reception, with more than 10% of
their volume being positive
Their central roles in the boycott of the St. Patricks Day parade earned them a significant amount of positive
feedback
Heineken was the most polarized brand out of the five
2014 Brandwatch.com

Buzz Trends

Brand Conversation by Month


100000

GUINNESS
ST. PATRICK'S DAY

MENTIONS

80000

Blue Moon

60000

Guinness

40000

Heineken

20000

Lagunitas

Samuel Adams
July

August

September October November December January

2013

February

March

April

2014

Monthly mentions of Beer Brands on US social media


March -There was a significant peak for Guinness in March that was related to St. Patrick's Day; Many
businesses advertised Guinness specials and regular consumers updated statuses indicating they were drinking
Guinness in celebration of St. Patrick's Day.
March - However, Guinness was not the only company to have a spike in March; three popular brands
Guinness, Heineken and Samuel Adams all had increases in conversation due to their decision to withdraw
sponsorships of the St. Patrick's day parades in support of LGBT Rights.
Daily Patterns - Zooming into daily volume patterns, volumes showed slight increase on weekends, which is a
common pattern in the alcohol sector.
2014 Brandwatch.com

Origin of Buzz

Where are people discussing these brands?

30% FACEBOOK
5% FORUM

56% TWITTER

3% NEWS
3% BLOG

From aggregate of all brands, where the conversation is happening


Twitter - More than half of conversation took place on Twitter
BeerAdvocate & RateBeer - Beer Specific domains like BeerAdvocate, RateBeer and other made up 5%
of total conversation
2014 Brandwatch.com

Brand Content
Analysis

2014 Brandwatch.com

10

Blue Moon Themes


What's being talked about Blue Moon

Blue Moon's association with the parent company MillerCoors was frequently highlighted, often
in a negative light
People criticized the parent company for disenfranchising Blue Moon of its craft qualities
Frequently mentioned brands besides Blue Moon included Shock Top, Coors Light, and Abbey Ale
2014 Brandwatch.com

11

Blue Moon
Influential Mentions

Blue Moon beer is made by Miller


Coors, but Miller Coors doesn't
seem to want anyone to
know that.

@DanTheNapkinMan It's JetBlue


spirit, but we've also got some
Blue Moon beer! http://
www.jetblue.com/flying-onjetblue/snacks-and-drinks/

~Game Day Recipe~ Blue Moon


White Ale Cupcakes: http://
www.bakeaholicmama.com/
2012/02/blue-moon-white-alecupcakes.html

@whattheffacts

@JetBlue

Bakeaholic Mama

584 RTs

1,815,847 Followers

818 Likes, 606 Shares

... There were a few but I'd have to


say Flying Dog Old Scratch amber
lager, Pete's Wicked Ale, Sierra
Nevada Pale Ale and (I know, I
know ) Blue Moon were probably
my gateways. My first favorite ....

Have you seen this map floating


around proclaiming Blue Moon
Brewing Company the new king of
beers across the US? The Atlantic
magazine decided to take a closer
look at the data.

... companies like Miller Coors are


slowly closing in on craft beers
a ... like they did when they
created the unique popular variety
called Blue Moon ... Make sure
your favorite craft and microbrew
is still independently owned and
controlled before taking a sip

genitempo

RateBeer

Food Babe

563 Comments

3 Shares

493 Comments

Influential mentions of Blue Moon on US social media


What's Influential? Highly Engaged Content (RT, Likes, comments) or contents from accounts with high
followers/subscribers
2014 Brandwatch.com

12

Blue Moon
Sentiment Highlights

Such a tasty brew. Drinking a Blue


Moon Blackberry Tart Ale by Coors
Brewing Company
http://untp.it/12GNk37

Angels stadium fails me again.


Domestic...Coors light. Premium...blue
moon. Embrace the local craft beer
scene more than just one stand!!

@RiotJigu Blue Moon is my favourite


day-drinking beer. I also have a local
red ale snuck in there very
hoppy though.

I don't love it when people say


@MillerCoors "responded" to the craft
beer movement with Blue Moon. It's
been out for almost 20 years.

POSITIVE

@ericjkraus
@NikaHarper

NEGATIVE

@stritle
@Zimmerino

Highlight of Positive and Negative mentions on social media


2014 Brandwatch.com

13

Guinness Themes
What's being talked about Guinness

As pointed out previously, Guinness's boycott of the St. Patrick's Day parade in support of LGBT rights have
garnered them a lot of mentions on social media
Particularly in light of St. Patrick's day, Guinness's Irish roots were mentioned alongside the brand name
2014 Brandwatch.com

14

Guinness
Influential Mentions

...'t blame you, there seems to be


not much better than a pint of
Guinness fresh from the tap, and
a Bushmill's on the rocks. That's
how I spent most of last night,
and plan to spend this evening in
a similar fashion..

2 mayors & major beer co.'s including Guinness - are backing


out of St. Paddy's parades in
support of LGBT groups: http://
cnn.it/1nytHGw

It was tradition in Ireland that if


you donated a pint of blood, you'd
receive a pint of Guinness to
replace the lost iron.

MMAJunkie

@CNN

@UberFacts

1887 Comments

12.8M Followers

2105 Retweets

3 million pints of Guinness will be


poured today:
http://usat.ly/1nyKHwm

The president of a Roman


Catholic group has called for a
boycott of beer makers Guinness,
Sam Adams and Heineken after
the brewers revoked their
sponsorship of the Boston and
New York City St. Patrick's
Day parades

Speaking of light beer. Once you


start drinking dark ales and stouts
like Guinness, regular Budweiser,
Miller, and other blonde beers
taste like light beers and the light
beers like wate

USA Today

Al Jazeera America

Bulldawg Illustrated

3562 Likes, 1032 Shares

533 Comments

722 Comments

Influential mentions of Guinness on US social media


What's Influential? Highly Engaged Content (RT, Likes, comments) or contents from accounts with high
followers/subscribers
2014 Brandwatch.com

15

Guinness

Sentiment Highlights

THE PERFECT PINT OF #GUINNESS


http://instagram.com/p/cTTrrNKBKt/

@MissCD93xox I'm not a big fan of


Guinness :( ...but I'll drink some
Irish whiskey!!!

Looks like I'll have to drop the red wine


and drink Guinness and Sam Adam's
today.Thanks for your support of our
gay community.

Worst pour ever!! #beerporn #pint


#guinness #irish http://
instagram.com/p/kdcFoQGkO8/

POSITIVE

@x210juggalox
@RealKevinNash

NEGATIVE

@austinbasis
@michaelvasquez9

Highlight of Positive and Negative mentions on social media


2014 Brandwatch.com

16

Heineken Themes
What's being talked about Heineken

References to advertising campaigns, which were not observed with other brands, appeared frequently
Particularly the "Share the Sofa campaign, which had a social aspect (hashtag), had strong traction with
audiences on Twitter
Frequently mentioned competitor brands included Corona, Red Stripe, Bud Light and Samuel Adams
2014 Brandwatch.com

17

Heineken
Influential Mentions

I took a trip to England in 1970


and realized that beer was really
better than the good Lowenbrau
and Heineken that my Dad would
keep around for us. I was....

FYI when I take over the world


there will no such thing as
Reduced Fat Triscuits or
Heineken Light.

a heineken at the lady gaga space


show will be so expensive

BeerAdvocate

@JimGaffigan

@Childish Gambino

Titanic_Ant

2M Followers

@DonaldGlober 1237 RTs

Sam Adams and Heineken join


city mayors to boycott St.
Patrick's Day parades in support
of LGBT rights
http://peoplem.ag/uDOBK

Heineken's "Departure Roulette"


will send you to a surprise
destination | http://ti.me/
13uEGVK (via @TIMENewsFeed)

Conversely, Wrigley Field


absolutely sucks. Bud, Bud Light,
Old Style, and if you're willing to
seek it out, Heineken, Amstel,
Labatts, and Modelo. That's it.
That's the list.

@PeopleMag

@Time

BeerAdvocate

5.5M Followers

5.7M Followers

ratmoss

Influential mentions of Heineken on US social media


What's Influential? Highly Engaged Content (RT, Likes, comments) or contents from accounts with high
followers/subscribers
2014 Brandwatch.com

18

Heineken

Sentiment Highlights

@SigmaRue That Van Gogh museum is


pretty rad. Heineken brewery is super
awesome too. =)

THE idiot at Heineken that decided to


change the bottle style should be
congratulated. Now NOW MILLIONS OF
COOLERS CANT FIT YOUR PRODUCT!!!

No company has done viral content


better than Heineken. This public
karaoke idea is brilliant http://youtu.be/
Bbj938krToQ (via @SportsBizDude)

Heineken Cascade 1 - Adding a


popular "craft brewing" hop will not
make your beer taste lass like skunky
piss water #CraftBeer

POSITIVE

@chinbeard
@darrenrovell

NEGATIVE

@grantfisher628
@golphur

Highlight of Positive and Negative mentions on social media


2014 Brandwatch.com

19

Lagunitas Themes
What's being talked about Lagunitas

Brands or breweries that are frequently mentioned with Lagunitas included Stone Brewing, New Belgium, Goose
Island, Russian River, and Guinness
Those brands, when compared with brands that surfaced as frequently mentioned for Heineken, definitely
highlighted that Lagunitas competes more within the craft realm and less with mainstream brands
2014 Brandwatch.com

20

Lagunitas
Influential Mentions

What beers earned your perfect 5s?

Barrel Aged Dark Lord Stout


Lagunitas Sucks Three Floyds
Bourbon Barrel Aged Moloko Milk
Stout that's all that comes to
mind right now.

Drinking an IPA by
@lagunitasbruhws - http://
untp.it/1eUpUsI

Sam Adams /Boston Beer is


powerful, but what is it about
power that so inevitably corrupts.
Fuck them. We're ready. Drink
what thrills ya...

westcoastbeerlvr

Will Wheaton

@Lagunitas

544 Comments

@wilw 2.6M Followers

66 Retweets

I could imagine making the case


for Lagunitas (6), Firestone Walker
(20) and Oskar Blues (27). Id
probably cast my vote for
Lagunitas, which I expect to be
controversial, given their lack of
fidelity to traditional rules about
beer styles.
djw/lawyersgunsmoneyblog

163 Comments

Some good coverage on the toll


the government shutdown is
taking on craft beer. From brand
new breweries to established
stalwarts like Lagunitas, the
effects are being felt across
the board.

RateBeer

Its the perfect weekend for BEER!


Our Lagunitas Brewing Co tasting
was phenomenal@ Thanks for
putting it together, Adam!

Whole Foods Portland Maine

27 Likes

Influential mentions of Lagunitas on US social media


What's Influential? Highly Engaged Content (RT, Likes, comments) or contents from accounts with high
followers/subscribers
2014 Brandwatch.com

21

Lagunitas
Sentiment Highlights

@edcasey Maybe I should start talking


about my favorite beers. BOY I SURE
DO LOVE THAT LAGUNITAS IPA.

That a brewery the size of


@lagunitasbruhws does not use easily
recognizable freshness dating on its
bottles is ridiculous. Do better.

@walker_winner "what's your favorite


IPA" I like Lagunitas, Kane's Head High
and one I got from the @greatsouthbay
called Massive

Lagunitas brewery having trouble in the


CA drought - oh no! http://
thinkprogress.org/climate/
2014/02/24/3322641/californiadrought-beer/#

POSITIVE

NEGATIVE

@inthefade
@mingchen37

@BeerScribe
@bgrassbluecrab

Highlight of Positive and Negative mentions on social media


2014 Brandwatch.com

22

Samuel Adams Themes


What's being talked about Samuel Adams

Special editions of Samuel Adams such as White Christmas and Octoberfest drove a lot of conversation
Like Lagunitas, Samuel Adams was mentioned along other more craft brands like Shock Top, New Belgium and
to a certain extent, Angry Orchard, but Samuel Adams was also frequently mentioned with Bud Light, Stella
Artois, and Guinness which are arguably more mainstream
From this competitor profile, we can see that Samuel Adams sits somewhere between craft and mainstream in
terms of brand positioning
2014 Brandwatch.com

23

Samuel Adams
Influential Mentions

How Does Sam Adams Beer


Respond To The Gay Participant
Discrimination At South Boston's
St. Patrick's Day Parade? http://
perez.ly/1iKuF0n

.@HonJohnBaird two close ones!


Congrats to #TeamCanada.
Making good on my promise:case
of @SamuelAdamsBeer on the
way pic.twitter.com/RMkPIJlpr8

The most expensive beer in the


U.S. is Samuel Adams' Utopia. It
costs $150 per 700ML, is released
every 2 years and is banned in 13
states.

@PerezHilton

@JohnKerry

@UberFacts

5.95M Followers

1302 Retweets

1489 Retweets

What a terrific and easy meal! I


was going to cook drumsticks for
dinner but wasn't sure how. Now I
know! I can't wait to try it! And
with the Sam Adams Summer Ale
(which is all the beer I have), the
chicken might end up with

The maker of Sam Adams beer


announced Friday that it is
withdrawing its sponsorship of
Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade
because organizers exclude
gay groups..

What is your fav beer from


Sam Adams?

Hate to be unoriginal, but I've


reviewed 16 Sam Adams beers, and
Boston Lager remains my favorite,
with Boston exclusives 26.2 and
Brick Red not too far behind.
Meanwhile,their Imperial Stout is by
far the worst beer I've ever had..

My Daily Dish

Al Jazeera America

Alextricity

224 Comments

3,626 Likes

Beeradvocate

Influential mentions of Samuel Adams on US social media


What's Influential? Highly Engaged Content (RT, Likes, comments) or contents from accounts with high
followers/subscribers
2014 Brandwatch.com

24

Samuel Adams
Sentiment Highlights

A lesson from @SamuelAdamsBeer:


Sometimes it's best to flatter your
competition. http://bit.ly/1apRtbi

Cheering @SamuelAdamsBeer for


withdrawing it's sponsorship of
Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade
because organizers exclude
gay groups

Sadly scratching #SamAdams beer off


my list. St. Patrick's Day is not about
gay pride and shame on the company
for taking that side #tcot

Samuel Adams is like the Raccoon Piss


of beer

POSITIVE

@Inc
@MiaFarrow

NEGATIVE

@PaulReverePress
@CowboyCharming

Highlight of Positive and Negative mentions on social media


2014 Brandwatch.com

25

Twitter
Domain Specific
Analysis

2014 Brandwatch.com

26

Twitter Themes
Twitter Specific Trends

These brands have a strong Twitter presence, frequently attracting consumer engagement
St. Patricks Day was a big topic on Twitter across all brands
A campaign ran by @walkingdead_amc (sponsored by Heineken) was also a major Twitter topic (i.e. "Be sure to
log onto the new and improved #TWD #StorySync Sun @ 9|8c! http://bit.ly/1kIbvrP Sponsored by @Heineken_us
pic.twitter.com/BhSWf871Qm" Link)
2014 Brandwatch.com

27

UnTappd Share on Twitter


By Percentage Per Brand
OTHERS

UNTAPPED SHARES

Sam Adams

32724

Lagunitas

15070

Heineken

6532

Guinness

3090

Blue Moon

8423
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Untapped, an app where users keep record of and publish the types of beer they are drinking, has sharing options on Twitter and it
shows an interesting insight into what people share about their drink habits
The UnTapped share numbers showed overwhelming dominance by craft brands over mainstream beer brands both in terms of
percentage share within each respective brand and absolute number of Tweet shares
This suggests that people are more likely to share the fact that they are drinking craft brands like Lagunitas or Samuel Adams than
brands like Heineken or Guinness
Lagunitas, in particular, had a very active Untapped user following who tweeted about drinking beers from the brand
Number of shares above might be incongruous with the actual market share or overall Twitter volume for these five key brands, but it's
an indication on what people like to share on social or with which brands consumers would like to associate themselves
This is a good example of how certain brands reap benefits from free social marketing
2014 Brandwatch.com

28

BeerAdvocate
Domain Specific
Analysis

2014 Brandwatch.com

29

BeerAdvocate Share of Voice


Volume of Mentions

8% BLUE MOON
33% SAMUEL ADAMS

9% GUINNESS

678

MENTIONS

6% HEINEKEN

43% LAGUNITAS

Breakdown of five key beer brands on BeerAdvocate by Volume of Mentions


Unlike that from overall social sphere, craft brands like Lagunitas and Samuel Adams were discussed in higher
volume on Beer Advocate
Total volume for these five key brands was low, suggesting BeerAdvocate predominantly discusses other brands
or have other types of unbranded industry-level discussions
2014 Brandwatch.com

30

Branded Conversation
Major Beer Brands on BeerAdvocate

1.2% PREMIUM BEER

92.3%

UNBRANDED OR NICHE CRAFTS

1.4% DOMESTIC

5.1% MAINSTREAM CRAFT

All mentions of BeerAdvocate on Brandwatch were categorized based on Brand Types; most major beer brands
as well as the five key brands were used to identify each post
As observed in the volume of five key brands, these forums tended not to discuss mainstream beers and users
on BeerAdvocate tend to discuss very niche craft brands like Hill Farmstead, Cherry Rye, Tired Hands, Funky
Buddha, and Firestone
2014 Brandwatch.com

31

BeerAdvocate Themes
What's being talked about on BeerAdvocate

A lot of "trade" keywords related to trade shows and beer trade information indicate that users of these forums
have expertise in this field
There are a lot of keywords indicating discussions around flavor and taste of the beer which suggests that
BeerAdvocate is a channel for knowledge exchange allowing users to discover new beers based on
recommendations
Often mentioned brands and breweries on BeerAdvocate included, Heady Topper, Bruery, Goose Island (Bourbon
County Stout), Hill Farmstead, Cherry Rye, Tired Hands, Funky Buddha, Firestone
2014 Brandwatch.com

32

RateBeer
Domain Specific
Analysis

2014 Brandwatch.com

33

RateBeer Share of Voice


Volume of Mentions

12% BLUE MOON


37% SAMUEL ADAMS

344

19% GUINNESS

MENTIONS
9% HEINEKEN

24% LAGUNITAS

Breakdown of Five Key Beer Brands on RateBeer by Volume of Mentions


As was the case in BeerAdvocate, discussions of craft brands like Lagunitas and Samuel Adams were much
more dominant in the RateBeer
Total volume for five key brands also relatively low
2014 Brandwatch.com

34

Branded Conversation
Major Beer Brands on BeerAdvocate

3.3% PREMIUM BEER

89.1%

UNBRANDED OR NICHE CRAFTS

2.3% DOMESTIC

5.4% MAINSTREAM CRAFT

All mentions of RateBeer on Brandwatch were categorized based on brand types


RateBeer shows slightly higher percentages of mainstream beer brand discussions but still,
89% have either unbranded industry level discussions or very niche craft brand mentions
2014 Brandwatch.com

35

RateBeer Themes

What's being talked about on BeerAdvocate

There are similar profile of keywords to that from BeerAdvocate, which again supports the claim that these
forums are where audiences come to gain more expert knowledge on the beer space
Frequently mentioned brands included Crooked Stave and The Bruery - Bottleworks XII
2014 Brandwatch.com

36

Advocacy
Analysis

2014 Brandwatch.com

37

Brand Advocacy

Advocacy Indicators per Brands Overall


14%

10%
8%

AVERAGE 6.4%

6%

ADVOCACY %

12%

4%
2%
0%
Blue Moon

Guinness

Heineken

Lagunitas

Sam Adams

Analysis of advocacy indicators across five brands (as defined by Appendix II)
Even though larger brands also have larger raw volume of mentions with advocacy indicators, in terms of the
percentage, most brands had about the same level of advocacy
Advocacy score on average across five brands was 6.4%
Guinness led the advocacy race with a score of 7.3%
Besides consumers directly expressing love for the brand Guinness, there were also a lot of mentions around
love for the cocktail Irish car bombs as well as St. Patrick's Day festivities
2014 Brandwatch.com

38

BeerAdvocate Brand Advocacy


14%

10%
8%
6%

ADVOCACY %

12%

4%

36

21

2%
0%

Blue Moon

Guinness

Heineken

Lagunitas

Sam Adams

Searching for the same Advocacy Indicators for each brand


On BeerAdvocate, we see slight increase in percentage of advocacy indicators for brands on average with
Lagunitas being the most advocated
However the sample size for these brands and advocacy indicators were too small to make any
conclusive statements
2014 Brandwatch.com

39

RateBeer Brand Advocacy


14%

10%
8%
6%

ADVOCACY %

12%

4%
2%
0%
Blue Moon

Guinness

Heineken

Lagunitas

Sam Adams

Searching for the same Advocacy Indicators for each brand


On RateBeer, we see Guinness being the most advocated brand followed by Blue Moon
Again because of the small sample size for these brands on RateBeer we cannot make any
conclusive statements
2014 Brandwatch.com

40

Beer Forums

Summary & Recommendation

Advocacy

Discussions from advocates focus


around the quality of the beer
Beer forum posts were more likely to discuss
beer qualities such as flavor, brewery and
manufacturing process
Beer quality topics were more likely to garner
attention from beer aficionados

Niche Crafts

Beer forums are dominated by very


niche craft conversation
Even craft brands like Blue Moon, Samuel
Adams and Lagunitas didn't seem to have huge
following to users of these beer forums
Forum commenters disregarded brands like
Blue Moon as subpar
Instead, breweries like Funky Buddha, Bruery,
Hill Farmstead, Tired Hands, Double Sunshine,
Firestone were popular amongst these beer
specific forums

2014 Brandwatch.com

Platforms like Twitter or Facebook are dominant by


volume but filled with noise and simplistic mentions of
the brand; on the contrary Beer specific forums may be
small in volume but are channels where higher quality
discussions like flavor critique and trade information
takes place
Tone of voice on these forums tend to be more critical,
assessing what tastes better or why certain brands
produce better beers
Users on these forums tend to discuss more niche
microbrewery beer brands
Positive association within this forum can increase the
brand's image to appear more "craft"-y and
"critic's choice"
There is a tendency for backlash towards brands that
used to have craft appeal and are now seen to be
losing their craft qualities after acquisition by major
brands
Most members of these beer forums tend to lament
how certain bars or venues that only carry mainstream
brands like Heineken

41

Appendix

2014 Brandwatch.com

42

Appendix I
Data collection

Brandwatch's collection of explicit mentions of five beer brands

Blue Moon, Samuel Adams, Lagunitas, Heineken, & Guinness

Collected data from each brands were then filtered appropriately to remove spam
and irrelevant noise

Research Date Range: July 1st 2013 to March 31st, 2014

Region & Language: US & English

In addition, Brandwatch scraped mentions from beer specific forums


BeerAdvocate & RateBeer

2014 Brandwatch.com

43

Appendix II

Heineken & Guinness Data Manipulation


11% SPORTS SPONSORSHIP
3% MUSIC SPONSORSHIP

Heineken

86% OTHERS

Guinness

97% OTHERS
3% SPORTS SPONSORSHIP

For brands like Heineken and Guinness, there were significant portion of the volume that discussed the brand in
the context of their respective branded sponsored events in music and sports
While these are interesting characteristics that accentuations differences in profiles between two mainstream
import brands and three domestic craft brands, these data did not give much insight into how these brands'
beers are perceived by the audience. Therefore these sponsorship mentions were removed for the purposes of
the analysis
Heineken Heineken Classic, Heineken Manchester City Partnership etc
Guinness Guinness Champions Cup
2014 Brandwatch.com

44

Appendix III
Advocacy Trends

What we deem as an advocacy indicator

Explicit mentions of rating highly or giving good score

Recommendation and endorsement, "go to beer", "always would buy

Fan of, proponent of, advocate of, supporter of

Not including "questions" that contain the same phrases as above

Delicious, "good flavor", or refreshing tastes

2014 Brandwatch.com

45

Contact
Email contact@brandwatch.com
Web http://www.brandwatch.com
Twitter @brandwatch
Telephone
US: +1 212 229 2240
UK: +44 (0)1273 234 290
DE: +49 (0)711 912 441 59
Fax
UK: +44 (0)1273 234 291

Document Limitation
The information given in this document has been checked for accuracy and completeness however Brandwatch
shall not be liable for any errors or omissions.
Brandwatch is a trading name of Runtime Collective Limited. Registered in England & Wales: 3898053
4th Floor, International House, Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XE, United Kingdom

2014 Brandwatch.com

46

You might also like